COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The 2010 Ursinus College football team opened its home schedule in style on Saturday afternoon with a 41-0 blanking of Juniata. The Bears (3-0, 2-0 Centennial) shut out the Eagles (0-3, 0-3 Centennial) for the second straight season.
On a day when the Bears honored former quarterback Ted Wallingford who passed away in the off-season in a car accident, offense was the name of the game as Ursinus racked up 331 yards of total offense.
Junior wide receiver Nick Giarratano (Wapwallopen, Pa./Crestwood) caught three passes for 96 yards and three touchdowns. He had scoring catches of 3, 4, and 41-yards in the victory. Two Ursinus quarterbacks threw two touchdown passes each as senior Justin Decristofaro (Jenkintown, Pa./Father Judge) and Matt McHugh (Chadds Ford, Pa./Garnet Valley) helped Ursinus to a 3-0 mark for the first time since 2007.
Decristofaro finished 11-for-19 for 119 yards, while McHugh was a perfect 2-for-2 for 62 yards.
Freshman running back Bryan Ellis (Owings Mills, Md./McDonogh School) had 99 yards on 22 carries as the Bears had 150 yards on the ground.
The defensive unit held the Eagles to just 109 yards of total offense and forced five sacks. Sophomore cornerback Chris Rountree (Lawnside, N.J./Haddon Heights) had two interceptions, and a had touchdown return on one of them negated by a penalty. On the season, Rountree now has five interceptions and has 14 in his young career.
Junior defensive back Joe Henry (Medford, N.J./Shawnee) had a team-best six tackles, while junior linebacker Greg Martell (Levittown, Pa./Neshaminy) had five stops and three tackles for loss. Senior linebacker Joe Galie (Phoenixville, Pa./Phoenixville) and junior linebacker Chris Salaga (Bordentown, N.J./Florence Township) also had five tackles each.
Juniata was led by junior wide receiver Dominic Bornman who had 69 yards on five catches.
Ursinus scored on its first offensive drive as freshman kicker Michael Bennett (Maple Glen, Pa./La Salle College) converted a 20-yard field goal with 7:51 left for a 3-0 Bears lead. On their next drive, Ursinus capped a 12-play, 78-yard possession with a three-yard TD pass from Decristofaro to Giarratano for a 10-0 lead six seconds into the second quarter.
The Bears went up 17-0 with 7:32 left until halftime as McHugh threw a 41-yard bomb to Giarratano for the touchdown.
In the second half, a 34-yard field goal by Bennett with 8:56 left gave Ursinus a 20-0 lead. The Bears went up 27-0 on their next drive as Decristofaro again hit Giarratano from 4-yards out for the score with 5:01 left.. The drive was set up by a 31-yard punt return from junior defensive back Mike Rissmiller (Hummelstown, Pa./Lower Dauphin), which put the Bears on the Eagle' 9-yard line.
Rissmiller would account for the next touchdown as he returned a Juniata punt 54-yard for a score with 13:28 left in the game to make the score 34-0.
Following a Rountree interception, the Bears scored on a 21-yard touchdown pass from McHugh to freshman wide receiver Ryan Lynady (Morrisville, Pa./Notre Dame) with 6:22 left in the game for the final score. Lynady also served as the Bears punter on the day, averaging 36.5 yards on two punts.
Ursinus junior running back Travis Evans (Dallas, Pa./Northwest Area) had 41 yards on seven carries.
The Bears will host Susquehanna next Saturday at 1 p.m.